Catch assembly



p 1943- E. BORCHERS 2,330,403

CATCH ASSEMBLY Filed May 8, 1940 Patented Sept. 28, 1943 i is l CATCH ASSEMBLY Earl Borchers, Rockford, 111., assignor to American Cabinet Hardware Corporation, Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, Ill., a-corporation of Illinois Application May s, 1940, Serial No. 333,885

6 Claims.

The invention relates generally to catches and more particularly to a catch assemblyfor a cabinet door. 1

The general object of the invention is to provide a novel catch assembly comprising a handle and operator adapted to be mounted on the outer face of a door, and a catch proper on the inner face of the door, in which the parts of the handle and operator are only loosely held in.

assembled relation before being placedonthe door but are tightly held in such relation by the means for attaching'the catch proper to the door, whereby the entire assemblymay be readily mounted on the door. 3

It is also an object to provide a catch as-" sembly of the foregoing character, which is of simple construction and-Which may be inexpensively manufactured because of the simplicity of the assembly of the various parts, both of the handle and operator and of the catch proper.

Other objects and advantages will become-apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view taken edge- Wise of the door of a catch assembly embodying the features of the invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1. a Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 'of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a portion of the handle structure.

Fig. 6' is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the catch proper.

'I'he-catch assembly herein disclosed is of the type particularly adapted for use with either wood or sheet metal cabinets. It comprises .a catch proper adapted to be mounted on the inner face of the door to engage the frame in order to hold the door closed, and a handle and operator portion adapted to be mounted on the exterior face of the door. The handle and operator portion is usually so constructed as to permit a person to release the catch and then pull the door open. In many catches of this general character, a simple push pin is utilized to provide the operating connection between the handie and operator on the exterior face of the door and the catch on the inner face of the door. The present device is of this, type.

In most catch assemblies of this type, the handle and operator portion is usually completely The catch proper also includes as a {or the ears I5. I held in place and no extra assembled, and the parts thereof are rigidly held together before this portion is mounted onthe door. More particularly, the handle and opera- ,itor portion usually comprises a handle having a base portion rigidly secured thereto, the base portion serving as a means by which the handle is attached to. the door. However, the rigid assembly of the handle and" its base usually in- .volves certain assembly operations whichadd to theYc'ost of the device. JSince catch assemblies of this character" are sold at a relatively low price, the cost of assembling the'handle and the base is amaterialpart of the total cost.

By the. present invention, the assembly; cost of the handleandoperator portion 'is reduced by merelyloosely retaining the base of the han- "dle' Within, the handle, and thetwo are rigidly secured together by; the means b'y which the device as a whole is secured tothe door. Loosely retaining the base within the"handle requires the simplest of assembly operations, and also permits of a. slight adjustment of the parts as they are being mounted on the door.

feature a novel construction whereby the back plate of the catch is secured to the body thereof by means extending through the apertures for themounting screws, thus eliminating thenecessity for providingseparate apertures for such means. v As shown'in the drawing, the door is indicated at ID, the catch proper at H and the handle and operator: portion is indicated generally at l2. In

th e present instance, thecatch proper comprises a body 13 in which is mounted a shiftable bolt l4 adapted to engagethe frame of the dooror' a strike mounted thereon. The catch proper is preferably provided with a pair of ears I5jexl tendinglaterallyfrom the body 13 andpr'ovided with apertures I! to receive mounting screws l6. Thebolt l4 and other partsof the catch are held within the body l3 by means of; a back plate l8.

LQ In order to provide a simple construction to retain the back plate I8 in place on the body l3, :the. plate is provided with means extending through the aperture ll securing the back plate 'to the ears l5. In the present instance, such means comprises a plurality of tangs l9 formed from the metal punched'from the apertures in the back .plate and then bent to extend through the apertures I1 and slightly over the front face Thus,'the back plate is rigidly apertures are required forsaid means.

The h'andle in the present instance 'a sheet'metal structure 'drawniand bent to procomprises i 'th ereby rigidly held in place.

vide a pair of spaced, relatively fiat walls 20, with the outer or bent edge of the handle, indicated at 2|, shaped to present a decorative appearance. In the preferred form, the handle has a downwardly extending portion 22 spaced from the door so that it may be grasped by the hand in order to pull the door open.

Within the handle is mounted an operator 23 which is pivotally supported between the spaced walls by a fixed pin 24. At its upper or inner end, the operator 23 is provided with a curved portion 25 adapted to bear against the head of a pin 25 extending through the door and into the catch I I. Movement of the pin 26 inwardly of the door by the pivotal motion of the operator; 23 causes the bolt M of the catch to be shifted to its release position, a spring (not shown), in the catch serving to return the pin 25 and the op erator 23 to their normal positions. The lower end of the operator 23, which is here indicated at 21, is shaped to lie partially within the portion 22 of the handle,- as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and is in spaced relation to the door. Thus by inserting the fingers between the lower end 21 of the operator and the door and pulling, such pull first causes the operator to swing about its pivot and release the catch bolt I l, and then swings the dooropen, V

In order to secure the handle to the door, each side wall 29 thereof is provided with an inwardly extending flange 30 bent toward each other and extending longitudinally of the handle, Within the handle is'placed a base 3| comprising an elongated strip of metal inserted into thehandle through the open lower end thereof and held against upward movement by the bent portion 2| ofthe handle. 111' order to loosely secure the base withinjthe handle, a tongue 32 is punched in the handle in the same operation in which the base. as a whole is formed. After the base has been inserted into the handle, the tongue 32 is bent at a right angle to engage the pivot pin 24, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and thus loosely retains the base within the handle. The base is preferably provided with a flanged aperture. 33 to serve as a guidefor the push pin 26.

In order to secure the base 3 to the door, a pair of internally threaded tubular members, or nuts 35fare. secured in apertures in the base as by riveting. These nuts 35 are solocated as to receive the. ends of the screws It: by which the catch is secured to the door. When the. screws [5 are tightened, thebase is rigidly attached to the door, and since. the. flanges 30 on the handle lie. between the base and the door, the. handle is Thus, while the base 3i is only loosely retained within the handle before being mounted upon the door, it rigidly holds the handle in place as an incident to being secured to the door.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that-the catch assembly herein shown is of a very simple construction and may be inexpensively manufactured, particularly because of the simplicity of the assembly of the various parts. The manufacturing cost is reduced because the handle. and its base do not have to be rigidly secured to. each other before mounting on the door, but the two are rigidly secured together when the parts of the device are secured to the door. However, this does not increase the cost or time required to mount the device on the door since. the Operations required in somounting the device are. no more than wouldcbe; required if the handle and its base were rigidly connected. Moreover, the assembly of the catch proper is simplified since the back plate I8 is rigidly held in place by means extending through the apertures in the catch body for the mounting screws.

I claim as my invention:

1. A catch assembly for a door comprising, in combination, a hollow handle and operator portion adapted to be mounted on one side of a door, a catch portion for the other side of the door, and a push pin connecting said portions for operating the latter, said handle and operator portion including a base loosely retained Within the handle before mounting on the door, and means for securing both the catch portion and said base tightly to the'door and clamping a part of said handle between said base and the door.

2. A catch assembly for a door comprising, in combination, a handle and operator portion adapted to be mounted on one side of a door, a catch portion for the other side of the door, and a push pin connecting said portions for operating the latter, said handle and operator portion comprising a handle having a pair of longitudinally extending flanges on its rear face, an operator pivotally mounted in the handle, and a base inserted in said handle under said flanges and loosely retained therein against endwise movement, and a pair of screws for securing said catch portionto the door and threaded into the base and thereby rigidly clamping said flanges between the base and the door;

3. A catch assembly for a door comprising, in combination, a handle and operator portion adapted to be mounted on one side of a door, a catch portion for the other side of the door, and a push pin connecting said portions for operating the latter, the handle of said handle and operator portion comprising a pair of spaced side Walls having a pair of longitudinally extending flanges bent toward each other, a base located inside of said handle along the inner face of said flanges, and means extending through the door for rigidly securing the catch portion and said i base to the door and thereby clamping said flanges against the door.

4. A catch assembly for a door comprising, in combination, a handle adapted to be mounted on one side of a door, a. catch adapted to be mounted on the other side of the door, said handle being hollow, an operator pivotally supported within the: handle by a cross pin, a base for said handle comprising a strip i of metal inserted lengthwise into the handle, said base having a tongue struck therefrom to. engage said. cross pin and loosely retain said base. longitudinally within said handle, and securing-"means for the catch extending through the door and rigidly securing said base in place with the handleclamped to the door.

5. For use in a catch assembly fora closure wherein a catch is mounted on the inner face thereof, a handle. assembly comprising a hollow body portion having a pair of spaced side walls and a pair of longitudinally extending flanges bent toward each other and being adapted to lie in contact with the outer face of a closure, a base for said handle loosely but permanently retained inside of said handle along the inner face of said flangesbefore being secured toth closurethus permittingadjustment of the handle relative to. the base during mounting thereof on the closure, said base being adapted to be rigidly. securedto the outer" face of the closure bymeans: used in se'curing'tli'e eaten: and thereby ing the latter, the handle of said handle and,

operator portion comprising a pair of spaced side walls having a pair of longitudinally extending flanges bent toward each other, a base loosely fitting Within said handle along the inner face of said flanges, and means extending through the door for rigidly securing the catch portion and said base to the door and thereby clamping said flanges against the door, the loose fitting of the base Within the handle permitting relative adjustment therebetween during the clamping operation so that the hand1e may be adjusted to a limited extent relative to the other parts of the assembly.

EARL BO'RCHERS. 

